tonymckenziecom | 1 decade ago

This is video three of the build of a unique Fender Stratocaster (strat) custom guitar with many out of the ordinary features you will not readily find on most Strats.

I used the best of the best parts I could buy to make this guitar including:

Fender Jeff Beck neck
Seymour Duncan 1953 Hot Antiquity pickups
Completely custom Warmoth body
super-v 'bladerunner' tremolo and arm
Fender locking gold tuners
Custom shielding
Custom pickup surrounds
and much more.

I show you EXACTLY how to build this guitar right from the get go through the build over three videos, to setup and tuning with other great tips and finally some examples of recorded video not long after I completed the project.

The guitar cost (here in the UK with that dreaded 20% tax) approximately £1400.00 (that's about $2000) but there is no way you can buy a guitar like this for the money from ANY manufacturer.

Check it out - it could be the start of you building your own Strat or other guitar too.

But more importantly, if you want a Fender Strat like this one, to buy from Fender would cost you a small fortune. It still will if you go to the lengths I did with this guitar - but I estimate about one quarter cost compared to Fender custom shop of the same thing (or indeed a PRS). Don't look to Fender - they don't have one of these and I guess the main reason is cost - its a very high end guitar.

This one was made in the Tony Mckenzie custom shop ;-) and is at least as good as any other 'custom' guitar even those from Fender. It is mainly a Fender Strat anyway but not as you might know it.

This uses Seymour Antiquity pickups (the hotter version) and many other great parts including a Jeff Beck original Fender neck.

I used a 'bladerunner' tremolo recently developed in the USA and released in 'gold' finish to match the guitar. This proved to be a great improvement over the standard tremolo which I was going to use originally.

I also used genuine Fender Locking tuners (gold) which were very expensive but finished off this guitar as I wanted it to look.

The body cost over $1000 by itself from Warmoth and was a custom order... unfortunately they did not do what they were told. But that's all in the build video of this guitar... watch it and learn about some of that stuff from me who suffered from a number of suppliers who could not do or supply what they were paid for.

In any case the final guitar is exceptional and it sounds much better in real life than you might think. But don't look for timid sounds - I don't particularly play that way. Be loud and proud that's what I say :-)

The video demonstrations (at the end of video three) was direct to the camera from a desk and I used a Mesa Boogie Road King II on channel 3 in vintage mode without too much drive in there.

On effects I used an Eventide Eclipse with my own settings.

Link to written overview: http://www.tonymckenzie.com/fender_custom_strat_4_review.htm

Do not copy this video it is (c) A B Mckenzie 2011. All Rights Reserved.

You might want to go over to http://www.tonymckenzie.com where I talk about this guitar, how I built it, some of the fool suppliers who don't know what day it is or many other aspects of this guitar and of course all those reviews I'm getting more and more famous for (some say infamous but they are usually die hard fans or manufacturers).